Today in Tech: Why we switched from BlackBerry to iPhone (finally)

BlackBerry was amazing over several jobs and three presidents. We have had one for so long that we remember the days when people would say: “Your calculator is ringing.” … But BlackBerry stopped serving us: The last several models we tried would freeze all the time, held only a couple of photos, and were set for some foreign alphabet, producing odd automatic accent marks. … More and more, folks regarded our trusty ‘Berry with bemusement, condescension — even pity.

The series of hires, promotions and departures is in part an effort by Twitter to strengthen and grow out its organization, much in the same vein as its older, wizened — and, notably, publicly traded — Silicon Valley competitors, Google and Facebook. But while it is one of Twitter’s most ambitious shuffling and hiring efforts yet, it isn’t occurring without disturbing a few existing players.

The selling, overseen by Mark V. Hurd, Oracle co-president, is already serious. “Unlike anyone else, we are supplying every layer in the stack” of technology that makes up cloud computing, Mr. Hurd said in an interview. “If you don’t get every part right, you are in deep trouble.” Since building it, “we’ve been very focused on engineering the system, educating the market on its value,” he said.

The latest entrant is NimbleTV, which lets viewers watch and record anything, anytime via its website. … The startup acts as a broker, managing a subscriber’s relationship with providers, passing on most of the fee to providers and keeping a small percentage.

Facebook has officially swung open the doors of its new storefront to make it easier to find apps your friends are using. It’s Facebook’s latest effort to make more money from its huge audience as investors impatiently wring their hands over slowing revenue growth at the world’s most popular online hangout.

You May Like

Read More

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Sign up now to receive FORTUNE's best content, special offers, and much more.